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The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, issued the following statement in response to Standard & Poor's ratings report, which today reaffirmed Canada's top credit rating:

"We are pleased that Standard & Poor's has confirmed our federal government's top credit rating, while pointing to the effectiveness and stability of our policymaking, the resilience of our economy, and the strength of our monetary and fiscal flexibility.

"Their assessment is that our track record in managing economic and financial crises is strong. This performance has allowed us to develop an even greater capacity to respond to future uncertainty head-on.

"In the meantime, we continue to focus on what matters to Canadians: creating jobs, promoting economic growth and securing long-term prosperity. Since July 2009, employment has increased by 883,000 and is now more than 450,000 above its pre-recession peak—the strongest job growth among G-7 countries over the recovery.

"Added to this is our continued commitment to return to balanced budgets before the end of this Parliament. Doing so will help us to bolster confidence and encourage job creation and economic growth, and will allow us to respond to future challenges such as population aging."